The Holy Family took shade under a tree in the city of Matareya (the ancient city of Heliopolis), which is known to this day as the Tree of the Virgin Mary. It has been famous as a cultural and religious shrine for many pilgrims and visitors from different parts of the world for many centuries. The original tree became weak and weak until it fell in 1656 AD, while a group of Franciscan fathers collected its branches and planted them, and the tree grew and branched again.
A group of French soldiers came to the tree in 1800 AD, and carved their remaining names on its branches with the points of their swords during the Battle of Ain Shams between the leader of the French campaign, Cléper, and the Turkish armies.
The tree attracted the attention of medieval historians such as Al-Maqrizi and Imam Al-Suyuti, who visited it, as well as travelers such as the English Orientalist Stanley Lane, and also Empress Eugenie of France during the Suez Canal celebrations in 1869 AD during the reign of Khedive Ismail.